He used to lug some 80kg of wood to and from his classes every month.
It was not the weight, but the bulkiness of the almost 3m-long wood pieces that bothered Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Mohammad Zaki As’at the most.
As a trainer at the Civil Defence Academy’s Urban Search and Rescue Branch, the 45-year-old conducts courses that involve building shores.
Shores are structures made with wood beams and planks to prop up and stabilise walls, windows and passageways in the event of an earthquake or building collapse, and can hold up more than 4,000kg each.
But hauling around and working with the unwieldy pieces of wood while demonstrating to trainees how to build the shores proved cumbersome.
To overcome this, 2WO Zaki came up with the idea of a model training kit, using pieces of wood and Velcro to build a miniaturised version of the shores, so trainees could understand what they were to do first before trying to build an actual shore for the course.
The models, which he developed within a year of being posted as a trainer at the academy in 2021, are five times smaller than the actual structures and weigh less than 5kg.
They are now an integral part of his lessons, which are also conducted for the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s overseas counterparts, who have complimented the use of the kit.
2WO Zaki was one of 17 Home Team trainers and eight training units that were recognised at the Home Team Training Excellence Awards Ceremony, held at the Home Team Academy (HTA) in Old Choa Chu Kang Road on Sept 19.
He was awarded Home Team Trainer of the Year (Special Commendation).
He said that aside from helping his trainees understand the technical aspects of search and rescue operations, he also stresses to them the importance of what they are doing and to take training seriously.
He said: “Our business is in rescues and patients and casualties… With the daily routine, one may not see the weight of being a rescuer.
“But I tell them to take training very seriously, because you never know. When somebody is in need, when there’s a civil emergency or a fire, you need to respond. And whatever you’ve learnt in training needs to be applied.”